WHERE ANGELS FLY-STEPHANIE GIBBS

hmmm i had some major disappointment with this book. It just wasn't right from the start. It would have been totally awesome to do a story about soldiers and to get so intimate with them, but this was very poorly done in my opinion. I'm not sure if you'd call it bad writing skills or what, but I had to force myself to get through it.

anyways, you may not agree, it's just my humble opinion.

This story had me torn. I really liked what the story was written about, and I give a lot of kudos to Stephanie Gibbs to write a very real life story about what it is like for soldiers in the war. On the other hand, I was not a big fan to how it was written.
For starters, the story is about a reporter, Logan, who is sent to Baghdad to film the war. She is set up to stay with the 101 Airborne Division. She meets the soldiers and throughout the story she films the happenings of the war.
Logan gets to know these soldiers and respects and appreciates them all. She also meets the medical doctors there and forms a special bond with one in particular. I would add more to the story, but that is it. I feel as though Stephanie Gibbs did not introduce her characters well at all. She did a great job at dialoging them talking amongst each other, but I was never really interested because I felt like I was reading the dialogue of strangers. I think it is one of the most important jobs for an author to make his/her readers connect with the characters and fall in love with them; in this instance, this did not happen. Had we really gotten to know Logan and the soldiers, her dialogue would have been spectacular because you would have really had an appreciation for their personalities.For example, within the first few chapters, Logan meets the soldiers and a few pages later they are all acting like best friends; laughing, joking, wrestling, and talking about serious life issues. In reality, people don’t do that. It takes time to warm up to people and be able to become that friendly and adjust to such a new situation like war. I think that was the biggest part that made this story so unrealistic; there were no way the characters would have been able to be as intimate together as she portrayed in such a short amount of time. Everyone basically worshipped the ground Logan walked on, and she didn’t even do anything special.What I also thought was rather random was the fact that a few of the characters were born again Christians. Throughout the story, Stephanie Gibbs had them convert people. One minute the person would be making fun of the fact that so and so was so into his religion, then in the next they would suddenly have a feeling wash over them and just like that, they were ready to commit to God. I don’t buy that. People don’t do that. It is unrealistic.
Like I stated above, I really think the idea of the story is great, but I don’t think the ultimate goal was achieved here. I would not read this book again, nor recommend it.

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BABY,BABY- KAREN WIESNER

This story was a nice, quick read. It wasn’t complicated, it wasn’t meant to confuse you; it was simply meant to be a nice story. Karen Wiesner does a great job giving her readers one of those books that is very light on the heart and a great summer time read.
Tamara and her husband Robert are good, practicing Christians. They put the lord first in their lives, and truly believe with all of their hearts that He will provide for them. They are blessed with five children, and wonderful home, and are very happy together. Robert works at the plant and is hoping for a upcoming managerial position while Tamara is a stay at home mom who derives pleasure out of keeping the house clean, home schooling her children when they are young, doing volunteer work, etc.
Just like all couples, Tamara and Robert have problems of their own. Robert is stressed out and has been depressed lately because he thinks that the managerial position is going to go to someone with a college degree who hasn’t worked at the plant half as long as him. Tamara, knowing the reality of their financial situation, tries to ease his burden by using a talent that she has for making gift baskets and taking a chance by trying to sell them. They are a hit. Robert is very unhappy with this, and asks her countless times to give up her new found business and let him worry about providing for his family. Tamara is very heartbroken over this, thinking he is very cruel for crushing her dreams. Robert is torn over this because he views it as a slap in the face that his own wife doesn’t think he can provide well enough for his family.
Their arguing reaches a peak and they both fear for their marriage. They both must pray and seek The Lords’ guidance on what they should do; the future of their family depends on it.
There are no mystery’s to solve and nothing unexpected happens in this story, but I do not think there are meant to be any. This is a simply a story of faith, love, and trust. This is a story is very real in the fact that couples get into arguments all the time and it’s how you handle them that decides the fate of your marriage.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a light read. This would be especially good for Christian women. I myself am not a religious person, but still found this a pleasant read. I got a little angry at Robert’s ignorance and stubbornness when it came to the issue of women earning an income, but the end result put a contented smile on my face. This is definitely a great beach read!!
This is Book One of the Family Heirloom Series


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